reality - or: how mama had fun with selfmade playdough

so, i'm a mama who loves to make stuff. think crafting, tinkering, painting, drawing, building, cooking. i'm so glad my little guy is slowly growing into that age where you can plan different kinds of activities. but still, at times i have to admit i am a bit impatient, wanting him to be old enough to make this or do that. i know for toddlers simple is best, and i try to keep that in mind when planning our days. he is definitely in that phase where he is most interested in doing whatever i am doing. this is my view in the evenings, when i'm busy preparing our dinner, he is too!



but then you read stuff and see what other people are making and creating with their kids. really, i think i myself as a mother am going through as much as a learning period as my little one is all the time.
the beeswax colouring blocks i gave him last week which i thought would be perfect for his little drawing hands?? um, great for stacking. but drawing? nope! he'll just stick with the good old crayons.


another piece of reality: this is what 80% of our summer looked like. and even though we took advantage of every single sunny day, i feel betrayed. this is not summer. this is not what i imagined this season to be for my little family. but other than the occasional talking about immigrating to someplace warm, putting on the rainboots and jumping through puddles (it's fun, yes, but not for weeks and weeks in summer!) there is actually nothing you can do but to accept it. embrace it? not really, but i accept it. it does not change a thing to complain, so indoor activities it was for most part of the days.

i found these fantastic recipes for homemade playdough (this one in english, and this great one in german). i got all the ingredients together and so on another rainy day last week i decided today is playdough day.



it was fun, i loved the warm dough in my hands and getting messy with the food colouring. but that was it, for the most part. once again, i had to learn that toddlers just have their very own way of playing, of exploring things, of trying out something new. i guess just watching mama playing with the dough and kneading the food colouring into it was enough of excitement.



but that's okay. i'm told the dough keeps in the fridge for quite a while. so we'll just give it another go in a few weeks. and a few weeks after that. and a few weeks after that.

p.s.: reality too, that all of this happened with me still in my pj's....